Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest

Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord. I rejoiced because they said to me, "We will go up to the house of the LORD." And now we have set foot within your gates, O Jerusalem.

When we go to mass or to any gathering of the faithful, we should go rejoicing. We should put aside all our worldly doubts, fears, and anxieties and focus on being with God. Often, we are beset by distractions in our lives and may be tempted to give them our attention, but we should offer all these up to God and use them as stepping stones to mediation and contemplation of God. This transforms what could lead us astray into something that leads us closer to God. So, when we step through the doors of our church, let us leave behind the world and all its empty worries and instead dedicate ourselves to a deeper participation in the mass and all our church's gatherings.

How can we prepare ourselves to go to church? What can we do to transform our worldly worries into spiritual opportunities for deepening our faith? How can we participate more fully in the mass and in the various spiritual gatherings at our church?

O Lord, let us go rejoicing to your house.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr

He said to me: Son of man, eat what is before you; eat this scroll, then go, speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth and he gave me the scroll to eat. Son of man, he then said to me, feed your belly and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you. I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. He said: Son of man, go now to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them.

The Word of God can nourish and sustain us if we allow it into our hearts. There is a feast of virtue contained within the pages of the Bible. There is a banquet of goodness set before us in the teachings of Christ. We are all asked to partake in this meal through the Liturgies of the Word and the Eucharist. Both mind and body are fed at the celebration of the Mass and we would do well not to starve ourselves of their bountiful fruits. Through the reading of the Scriptures and the sharing of the Blessed Sacrament, we are given heavenly foods that are sweeter than any honey and more fulfilling than any food.

Do we read Scripture every day and allow God to nourish our souls through His Divine Word? Do we make every effort to receive the Body and Blood of Christ whenever we can? Are we willing to bear God’s Good News to all, even if it means being persecuted for it?

O Lord, give us the good food of your Divine Word.

Amen.

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is the reason we come to mass. Gathering together as a community is important, but it is the Holy Communion that unites us in faith. Listening to the Scriptures is enlightening and uplifting, but it is the Blessed Sacrament that gives us the grace to fulfill God’s Will. The best way to meditate upon the mysteries of the Incarnation, Life, Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is to receive the Divine Bread and Wine he blessed so long ago. The centrality of the Eucharist to our faith is undeniable. We must eat of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ if we want to be a part of God’s Kingdom and rise to eternal life with Jesus. It is also through this Blessed Sacrament that we welcome God into our lives. And if we are sincere in our reception of the Eucharist, then God will remain with us in a special way, providing us with many graces we can get nowhere else and that will carry us forth into the world.

Do we place our focus on the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ whenever we go to mass? How do we show God respect and sincerity before, during, and after our reception of the Blessed Sacrament? In what ways do we cultivate the graces of the Eucharist?

O Lord, you are our true food and drink. Remain with us forever and ever.

Amen.

Thirtieth Monday of Ordinary Time

“Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger and lead it out for watering? This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?” When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated; and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.

The best way to keep holy the Sabbath is not only going to Mass, but also doing good works. We should do good whenever the opportunity arises. This spirit of compassionate charity should be at the heart of our faith. Our religious observances shouldn't be the end of our faith, but only the starting point. Both faith and works are necessary for our salvation. Faith in God is founded on our trust that our Heavenly Father will provide us the graces we need to do good, avoid evil, and be saved. Acts of charity and mercy give God proof that our faith isn't just words or empty promises, but beliefs at the very core of our existence. In truth, every day should be a Sabbath day for us where we can rejoice in the Lord, proclaim our faith, and perform acts of almsgiving and prayer.

How do we celebrate the Sabbath? How do we express our faith beyond religious observances? How can we make charity the very heart of our Christian identity?

O Lord, may our lives be filled with acts of faith and love so that we can bring hope to all your children.

Amen.

Second Tuesday of Ordinary Time

As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

In today’s gospel, we are reminded that the Sabbath was created for man, not the other way around. God wants us to take at least one day out of every week and make it holy. He also wants us to rest in His Love and Mercy on this day. This is why it is so important to celebrate the Sabbath. His Divine Presence at Mass renews us and gives us the graces we need to make it through the week. The spiritual food we receive through the liturgies of the Word and Eucharist, nourish our souls, make them stronger, help us lead healthier lives, and unite us in the spiritual body of Christ. If we do not take time for the Sabbath, we will go spiritually hungry, become too weak to do God’s Will, and wither away in sin and idleness. The Sabbath is a cornerstone of our faith and we should be perpetually thankful for the graces that flow from our participation in it every week.

Do we keep holy the Sabbath? Do we take time to rest in the Lord? Do we spend time not only receiving the God's Word and the Eucharist, but also make them part of our being?

O Lord, help us to keep holy your Sabbath.

Amen.

The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas

There was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.  And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.

We can learn a lot about how to live a holy life by following Anna’s example. We should spend more time in the presence of the Lord not only in church (via the mass, adoration, etc.), but also in fasting and prayer. We should also make a point to give thanks to God for every day He has given us in this life and speak to others about Jesus and the salvation he offers to all. It can be so easy to get caught up in the worries of the world and forget about spending time with God. We should seek out God’s presence in our lives and let Him speak to us through the sacraments and our daily reflections on the graces He has given us.

How can we better worship God, both day and night? How can we cultivate the habits of fasting and prayer? How can we express our thanks to God for all He has done for us?

O Lord, thank you for your redeeming graces in our lives.

Amen.

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.

Every day we have the opportunity to eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist. If we work, we may not be able to do it every day in the morning, but at the very least we have an opportunity to do so during the Sunday liturgy. These daily or weekly feasts with the Lord infuse us with His Divine Life. Unlike the food we eat at our own tables, the Body and Blood of Jesus can consume us if we allow it to. We are blessed beyond all imagination through the Eucharist. This sacrament offers to us eternal life and salvation, if we are willing to let it transform us into Christ. What a gracious gift Jesus has given to us in His Body and Blood. May we never take it for granted or miss an opportunity to receive it.

When we partake of the Eucharist, do we truly appreciate the graces it gives us or the sacrifice within it? Do we give thanks to God for the gift of the Blessed Sacrament? Do we allow the Body and Blood of Christ to transform us into better people?

O Lord, we want nothing more than to eat of your flesh and drink of your blood so that we might have eternal life and be raised on the last day.

Amen.

Seventh Thursday of Easter

And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.

We are all called to be one with God and each other. Our baptismal promises unite us not only with the Holy Trinity, but with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We should make every effort to show our unity with God and His children. We should unite ourselves with the Mystical Body of Christ through the Mass, the sacraments, and our prayers for and with each other. The Mass is a wondrous gift to us and through it we are united in the Word of God and His Body and Blood. We share the good news and then we partake in our Lord and Savior’s greatest gift to us—the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. The Mass is one prayer we share with the each other and it unites us not only with the Church on Earth, but also the Church in Purgatory and Heaven. We are one with all those who have come before us, who are with us now, and who will come in the fullness of time.

Do we fully participate in the community of believers through the Mass? In what manner do we unite ourselves to God and His children through the Blessed Sacrament? How do we express our oneness with God and each other in prayer?

O Lord, we are one with you and each other.

Amen.

Third Thursday of Easter

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.”

Jesus gave his flesh for the whole world and this sacrifice is made present to us again and again—though in an unbloody manner—through the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Altar. We would do well to contemplate what Jesus’ sacrifice means for us, not just abstractly, but concretely. If Jesus hadn't come, the world would be a darker place with little hope of anything more than mere survival. There would be no Christians, no priests, no religious, no Church, or anything else inspired by Christ’s teachings. So many hospitals and charities would never have existed. So many more people would have perished in famine, poverty, illness, and other maladies because without the Church there to help stabilize the fall of Rome, the majority of Western culture might have been snuffed out. Thank goodness Jesus did come down from heaven and give us his Flesh for the life of the world.

What would the world be like if there had never been a Christ? What if there was no promise of salvation for us though the Body and Blood of Jesus? How grateful should we be that Jesus did come and die for us?

O Lord, you are the living bread. We are blessed beyond all knowing to partake in you and your promise of eternal life.

Amen.

Wednesday in the Octave of Easter

And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight.

The disciples who are walking with Jesus do not recognize him when they first meet him. They do not recognize him when he opened the scriptures to them. However, when he took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, then their eyes were opened. But why does Jesus vanish? Why does he leave them? If we read closely we see that Jesus does not leave them. He makes himself present to their hearts through the celebration of the Eucharist. Sometimes we can forget who is residing in the Blessed Sacrament, either because we are overwhelmed with worries or thoughtless about our reception of the Body and Blood of Christ. But we must always seek to recollect ourselves at Mass and realize that God is truly and wholly with us in the Eucharist. Our hearts should be ever burning within us as we approach and receive the Blessed Sacrament.

Do we recognize Jesus within the Body and Blood we receive during Mass? How do we prepare ourselves for receiving him into our hearts? What do we do afterward to give thanksgiving for all he has done for us?

O Lord, open our eyes to the blessing of the Most Holy Sacrament of Your Altar.

Amen.